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cecropia moth

cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia)
Photo provided by 2@businessscottkopcom/pond5.com

Features and Behaviors

FEATURES
The cecropia moth has a wingspan of five to six inches. Its antennae are feathery and are larger in the male than in the female. The body is rust-colored with some white on the abdomen. Wings are dark brown with one light eyespot. There are red and white color bands and white teardrop-shaped marks, too. The larva, or caterpillar, is blue-green with two rows of blue projections on the sides, two rows of yellow ones on the back and two rows of red ones on the thorax. The caterpillar grows to about four inches in length.

BEHAVIORS
Found statewide in Illinois. As an adult, it does not feed. The larva is a spiny caterpillar that eats the leaves of a number of tree and shrub species. It pupates in a cocoon of silk. The cocoon is attached to a twig.

Illinois Range

Taxonomy

​Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Saturniidae

Illinois Status: common, native